AirFlo has come up with their Ridge Clear floating line. Cabela's had them on sale earlier this year and I picked one up. I have used this line on my new Allen Kraken reel for my 5-wt setup. The line is a bit unruly to cast, but as it has been used a few times the easier it has become to lay out good casts. It does disappear in the water as touted. I have fished the spring about a half dozen times this season and every time I have outfished everyone I was with by more than double. May have had to do with presentation, fly choices or just my spring creek Ninja fishing skills - who knows? But it appears the proof is in that pudding and I am sold on it. No more endless coils and more fish on my favorite water. I'm sold unless someone tells me otherwise

Kelly.

Kelly,

I think what that clear line does is to give you the same benefit that a very, very long leader would do but with more control since what would be the butt of that long leader is actually the clear fly line.

One of the legendary abilities of a Ninja is invisibility of motion and so the Ninga effect may be actually what is going on, although at a trout's level of perception.

The reason clear lines are coily is because they are built on monofilament cores. The coiling is exaggerated in colder weather/water.

I am one that believes theres no difference in fishing productivity between colored lines and clear. A poor caster with chartreuse line will be at a disadvantage IMO. But the softer colored lines that have hues of natural sky colors do just fine with wary fish.
In fact clear lines can and do reflect sunlight in a very bright flash. Almost like sunlight passing thru a magnifying glass. It is my belief that a fish would be more likely to flee from a bright flash during the cast, or even a floating clear line. Think about a clear floating line, bouncing along thru a riffle, as sunlight is hitting it as it moves and contorts with the surface. It could potentially be "strobing" all through the water column. now, it may not be that bad, but I do know they flash. I have seen it quite often in the cast when the sun gets low.
My buddy and I fished a lot of lakes with clear intermediate lines. I cant tell you how many times he'd be casting next to me and I thought he was taking pictures with a flash out of my peripheral.

With that said, my choice for streamer fishing in lakes for trout is a clear intermediate line 95% of the time. The only reason for it is the clear lines have the best overall performance. I would like to see line companies produce more slow sink, intermediate lines that are in drab natural colors that perform as well as the Cortland camo or rio aqualux. As mentioned, the mono core lines are quite unruly. A braided core line with a soft opaque color would be a very good line.

I also wonder about the flash when fishing mirror flats to tailing fish late in the day. That's the only time I've fished for them in recent years because of the crowds of people on all the wadeable flats.

I've never fished a clear line for bones, but most bonefish I've spooked have been from either lining unseen ones or from them seeing the rod or line waving around in the air. So I sacrifice some accuracy for a very low to the water cast. They also do not like lightning flashes.

I use clear lines for tarpon, both in bright sunlight and at night. If the lines flash during bright sunlight, I think it gets lost in all the rest of the glare and flashes off the ripples and waves. I've not noticed that flashing during the middle of the day.

Since most guided flats fishing is done from skiffs when the sun is high and the vis good, I think that is, in large part, the reason for their popularity. The other is likely that many of the people being guided are not comfortable casting leaders a rod and half or more long.